


Passion project

by JustDebko



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Alternate Meeting, Caring Hugh Culber, Culmets - Freeform, First Meeting, Hugh Culber Lives, M/M, Medical, Mycelial Network (Star Trek), Other, Presentation, Research, Science, SpaceBoos, Starfleet, hugh culber - Freeform, justin straal - Freeform, lab, paul stamets - Freeform, prototaxites stellaviatori
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:36:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29901195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustDebko/pseuds/JustDebko
Summary: Paul Stamets gives his presentation about the project he is working on with Straal for years until he notices a particular someone sitting in the crowd.A alternate first meeting between Paul Stamets and Hugh Culber.
Relationships: culmets, spaceboos - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

"The species used for this project is called prototaxites stellaviatori". Paul says and looks around the room again until his eye lands on the front row and someone who is sitting there. A doctor, as seen by his white starfleet outfit and badge. He looks from his boots up till his face and locks eyes with the man for a moment. A handsomely well groomed, dark skin toned and a little obviously having a great and fit body type which the white is really complementing. Paul tries to find his words for a few seconds. "The mycelia holds special pro- properties which include having access to a network called the mycelial network". Paul says now trying to ignore the doctor in the crowd, surrounding himself with only his own words as the sound. Drowning in his enthusiasm and passion again throughout the rest of the presentation, occasionally still looking at the doctor globally while looking at the rest of the crowd as well. He can't help himself then blush a bit here and there but continues nonetheless and tries to not show his sudden nerves he hardly ever had during presentations about his project with straal. 

During the presentation the doctor Hugh Culber was very interested and intrigued by the enthusiasm and the project but can't help but smile because of the person presenting it. The expressions, the trying to hold the fast talking slower and ofcourse the hand gestures that make the words and his story more alive and colourful. After the presentation was done Paul received applause and left the stage walking up to Straal. "Well that went well, right?'' Straal says crossing his arms. ''Well yeah until I noticed that there was a handsome doctor in the crowd''. Paul answers shutting his mouth after letting this slip out of his mouth on accident. Straal opens his mouth a bit in suprise and chuckles. "What, he was in the front row. Hard to miss. Why was medical here anyway?". Paul says now a bit more annoyed and trying to save him out of this himself with the famous frown on his face. "I don't know but I do know if we don't get sponsored then it doesn't matter because your face and sudden emberassment and uncofidence was all worth it". Straal says half joking. Paul stares at Straal a bit mad and with his withering glance. Straal just shrugs and looks behind Paul and sees the specific doctor. 

"Oh, there's your hot doctor''. Straal says which makes Paul look behind him but quickly turns to Straal again. "Well good luck''. Straal says with a grin and starts to walk away. "No, no Stra-''. Paul whispers loudly but turns around seeing that the doctor has walked up to him. "Hi, I found your presentation really interesting". Hugh says. ''Thank you". Paul answers with a hint of questening. ''Medical officer doctor Hugh Culber''. Hugh says and reaches out his hand. Paul takes it a bit flustered. ''Paul Stamets, astromogolicist but you probably already knew that''. Paul says. ''Yeah, working with space mushrooms''. Hugh says. "Actually they are called protaxites stellaviatori'' Paul says. ''Protaxites stellaviatori". Hugh says in sync with Paul. Paul looks at him suprised and with wide eyes. "Yes, I listened''. Hugh says answering his look and chuckles softly. "Not a lot do". Paul says and smiles softly. "I was genuinely interested, you made it sound very promising and wonderous". Hugh says. Paul blushed a little by that comment. He looked the doctor straight in the eyes again and can't help but look at his smile too. He has a great smile. ''One comment if I may". Hugh says. Oh no Paul thought, he's going to say that everything else sucked. ''The biological part of the research, interacting with other species on a medical point of view. It seemed a bit short or well non-existent. Do you have any doctors working in your team?" Hugh asks. Paul registers and thinks about what he just mentioned and finds it intriguing that this doctor listened to the entire presentation with open ears and full attention. "Oh no, it's just my lab partner Straal and I are working on it''. Paul answers. Hugh nods. "If you need any medical help then I'll be glad to give you a hand. I find passion projects interesting and your project sounded very passionate''. Hugh says with a smile. 

Was he being too excited or passionate again during presentations? Well so far for trying to keep it down. Paul thought. ''I don't want to take too much of your precious time...''. Paul says but begins to wander off when he looks into Hugh his eyes again and then takes in his face. "But if you insist, all help is very much appreciated''. Paul says hastily trying not to loose this lovely sight fo the doctor too soon before he got to know him. ''Great'''. Hugh replies and brings out his PADD and hands it over to Paul. Paul takes it and adds his contacts in it then gives it back to Hugh in this exchange their hands brushed and Paul smiles more then he was aware off but being dissapointed when it was gone. Hugh smiles back and when he looked up from his PADD there was something in his eyes glistening. Maybe this wasn't about the project but more about the person behind it. Hugh looks behind him when his name is mentioned by a group of people Paul didn't know. ''I should probably keep going''. Hugh says with a bit of disappointment and slowly facing Paul again. "Yeah, have a nice evening- Doctor Culber''. Paul adds now remembering the name. Hugh gives a smile and a you too and goes to the those group of people. 

Straal looked up and saw the doctor walking off to a group of people. He decided not to ask about it tonight knowing how Paul might not want to talk about it, most defenitly won't. Maybe tomorrow while at the lab when he has his thoughts and feelings more sorted. That makes the conversation that can lead out of it more deep going and interesting when he knows more about it himself. Even tho Straal would love to keep Stamets working on the project 24/7. He also wants him to be happy and have a distraction. He has seen him frustrated, out of his mind, raging even and he was there to pick him up again but there is just so much he could do until that runs out. He can't loose Paul on this project. He is the key somehow. He has always been smarter then he was. Less short sighted as Paul has mentioned sometimes that Straal was being short sighted. I do aim for bigger goals. Bigger and further jumps while Paul really doesn't like to take a risk and wants to test it a million times and take tiny steps. Being more careful and more sighted about the possibilities and safety. Straal thinks. When he tries to reach for results. Paul reaches more for stability, sustainability. The fungi that creates life out of death. Making sure that the cycle continues. Without Stamets on this project Straal would have probably torn the universe apart as Paul likes to refer to the fungi as the veins and muscles of the universe.


	2. The matchmaker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day in the lab. Straal is curious about the conversation Paul had with the so called handsome doctor. He learns soon enough more about where Paul his recent happiness is coming from.

The next day Straal walks into the lab and sees Paul already at work as usual. After a few minutes he walks up to Paul. "So how did it go?" Straal asks. "Did what go?" Paul answers. "You know what I mean". Straal says leaning with his elbows on the counter across from Stamets. "No I don't". Paul says with a flash of a smile and looks down at his PADD again. "Your conversation with that handsome doctor". Straal says and sees Paul looking up from his PADD a bit flustered but also direct. "Why do you care, That's none of your bunissness". Paul says which makes Straal shrug. "Oh come on what we're you two talking about". Straal says with a grinny smile. Paul looks at him irritated. "He complimented our work". Paul says. Straal looks at him with a face knowing that there is more. Paul sighs in defeat. "And he offered his help to the project, on a medical point of view". Paul says.

"That's great, we could really use some help especially in that area, is he a good doctor?". Straal asks and Paul frowns. "How should I know?". Paul questions back. "Come on, you are not going to tell me that you didn't look at his file in the starfleet database". Straal says with a grin again knowing Paul. Paul looks down for a moment and looks back up still not saying anything. "Was there any information about a partner present?" Straal asks which makes Paul a bit furious. 

"Even if it did then why should I care? He probably already has a lover, I'm doing fine on my own as I have been for years now. So you don't need to keep playing matchmaker for me". Paul snapped and looked at his screen typing away. "Okay, fine". Straal says walking back to his own station knowing he can't talk to Paul normally when he's like this but he knows that this isn't over yet. He'll just see how this goes. 

A few hours later Straal got a report send on his PADD with ofcourse Paul his signature and Doctor Hugh culber his? Straal looked up at Paul after he read the doctors name. Paul was deep into work and fixing mechanisms. A few minutes later when he seemed to be done with this task for now Straal talked to Stamets from across the room. "This report that I got is from you and Doctor Hugh Culber?" He asks. "Well as I said, he offered help. I sended some stuff to him and he added a few new pieces of information. Thought you should know". Paul says casually as if this has ever happened before. "Okay?" Straal questioned but left it at that. So they are definitely in contact with eachother well just about work, for now. He read the report and found it very interesting as what doctor Culber had to say and added to this. He clearly was a good doctor and was actually pretty clever. 

Nothing really else happened a week after, just another report partly done by the doctor. The only thing that was A bit suspicious is that Paul was smiling a bit more then usual and yes Straal could tell. Paul was in a better mood almost all week long. On the last day of the week when Straal walked in he couldn't believe what he saw.

Paul was comming with someone on screen and not just someone. No it was with Hugh Culber. Straal looked at Stamets his face and saw him smiling, chuckling even at something the doctor said. Paul looked to his side and saw Straal. "I need to go, I'll talk to you tomorrow". Paul said with a small apologetic smile. "See you then, good luck with work". Hugh responds and smiles. Ending the call Paul looked slowly to Straal his eyes not directly meeting his knowing what Straal might be about to say. Straal just crossed his arms and raises a brow. When Paul finally met his eyes he spoke. "This is not what it looks like. We we're just talking about work, a theory he had". Paul said. Straal can't help but smile at the sudden innocence coming from Paul and thinking about the smile he saw on his face earlier. Letting it play out was the best option after all. "What. No comment or a I told you so?" Paul asks after a few moments of silence. Straal thinks for a moment. "You should invite him to come over sometime". He says wanting to see Paul smile more often. "You wouldn't mind?" Paul asks suprised. Straal shakes his head. "He seems like a nice and helpful guy. We can need some of his help tomorrow". Straal says and smiles softly. "I will ask him". Paul says looking at his PADD trying to contain a smile.


	3. Visiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hugh is able to visit the lab for the first time and so he does. after a small accident they both realize something more.

The next day when Straal came into the lab Stamets wasn't there yet surprisingly. He sat down at his desk and began to prepare stuff for today when he heard the doors open and saw Stamets walking in with his PADD in hand, looking at it and with a smile on his face. Well now I don't need to ask about if the doctor is coming or not anymore. Straal thought and watched him amusingly.

A few hours later the doors to the lab open and there he was Hugh Culber. Stamets stood up and walked over to him. "Hi, welcome to the lab". Stamets says and now Straal has joined him. "This is my lab partner Justin Straal also an astromogolicist". Paul says and Straal shakes hands with Culber. "It's nice to meet you". Hugh says with a smile. "Nice to meet you too doctor". Straal says and takes a small glance at Stamets who is smiling softly. "Let me show you around". Paul says and leads the way through the lab, addressing some things here and there to Culber and answering all of his questions. "The issue we're facing is that we need to get this thing to work". Straal says and points at some sort of cube. "I'm not exactly an engineer". Hugh says kindly. "We keep messing up. We can't keep our hands still to complete it". Straal says. "Well I do have surgecian hands". Hugh says and looks at them both. Straal begins to nod slowly confirming it while thinking. "Right, so you might be able to keep your hands steady long enough, it are small components". Stamets says. "I can certainly try". Hugh says which makes Straal and Stamets nod and explain to him what he needs to do exactly.

"Okay, starting, now". Straal says while Hugh is keeping his hands steady on some tools he's holding. "Few more seconds". Stamets says. The device turns on and Hugh removes the tools and his hands slowly from the device. "It is working". Straal says excitedly. "Yes, it is fully operational". Stamets says and smiles at Hugh who is smiling back. "Good job doc". Straal says and high fives Hugh. "Is that why you invited me to come here? For my steady hands?". Hugh says jokingly. "Yes and no, there is some data that we have to go through". Stamets says and puts it on screen. Hugh comes to stand just behind him on his left side and is looking at the screen. Straal sits down to make notes of the observation.

The longer Hugh stood next to him the more Paul felt like he was getting closer. Bodies almost touching. His chest and stomach on his back. Maybe he also felt a hand crawling on his back but he's not sure. Taking a small step back to confirm this. He felt no movement coming off his back or shifting so it must have been a phantom of a touch.

As Straal was making notes he also occasionally looked up at the two of them. They stood quite near to eachother. They we're becoming friends fast. He has never seen that happen to Paul with someone else since himself. He became friends with Paul because they both we're astromogolicists and had a passion for the same things but this doctor isn't an astromogolicist and knows half of what there is probably said. The doctor seemed very nice and kind and mainly calm, patient even. The opposite of what Paul can be. Now that he thinks back on the week. He has never seen Paul smile that much in a row within a week's time. He hopes that the doctor knows what effect he has on Stamets for sure but he seems to be handling Paul quite well, Straal isn't worried about that. He was there when Paul opened up to someone last time. It was in the early stages of the project and the person has left Paul because of his work. Now that this doctor is involved in his work and met him because of their work, it might be different. He hoped he was different because Paul is too.

The click was certainly there, from  
day one. Straal thought with a smile.

After they read through the data they were watching something very closely. They injected the spores into a small container mixed with something else to see what reaction it would cause. The spores started to spin around and caused the container to spring loose and bumps into something that's been holding some boxes up. The boxes fall down which causes Stamets to stumble over them and make Doctor Culber loose his balance to fall directly onto Stamets. Straal hurries over and looks at the two on the floor. Stamets groans and Hugh is already trying to get up by getting on his elbows. Stamets opened his eyes and was directly looking into Hugh's eyes. Hugh looked back at him with wide eyes for a moment. Hugh breaks contact when he hears Stamets make a small noise out of pain. Hugh gets up and helps Stamets get up as well. Paul winced and quickly sits down on a chair. "Are you okay?". Hugh asks. "I'm fine, my foot just hurts a little". Paul answers. Hugh checks his leg and foot to see if anything is broken. His foot turned out to be a bit bruised. Hugh scanned it and grabbed a spray. "Giving a little rest to this leg should do it". Hugh says and looks up at Stamets. Stamets was looking back at him, blush creeping up his face realising what just had happened. He cleared his throat and looked the other way. Hoping Hugh wouldn't see it. Blush was now setting on Hugh his face too seeing Paul his posture that seemed to be realisation.

Hugh did like Paul. When you get to know him and he isn't bad on the eyes at all. Paul likes Hugh, for just being him and Hugh liking Paul for the way he is and psychically very attractive.


End file.
